Gravitation
by Makemegray
Summary: Everyone has weaknesses that are some peoples strengths and people are needed to compensate others.The Silver Millenium is no exception as the leadership of the senshi is called into question we discover that the forces of Gravitation are undeniable.YURI
1. The Rage Beat

Gravitation: A Bishoujou Senshi Sailor Moon Fanfiction

Chapter One:_ The Rage Beat_

Disclaimer: BSSM doesn't belong to me and neither does the song The Rage Beat. The former belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and co. and the latter belongs to Kotani Kinya, Murakami Maki and co.

Being the Crown Princess of one of the Silver Milleniums most prominent planets and planet second closest to the Moon in rank, Rei had seen a number of things go terribly, terribly wrong in her time.

Whether it be something simple like functions being inturrpted by mauraders who had no idea that members of the royal families would be in attendence to entire planets wiped out by the wiggle of someones little toe. (She consistantly reminded herself not to piss off Saturn)

The current situation ranged somewhere in the middle of that.

Rei's father, the King of Mars, was absolutly livid that his daughter had been named Second Chair in the Solar System's protection squad.

That wasn't the heart of the problem, however. What was was the fact that over all of the other senshi, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Saturn, and Pluto (not Mercury 'cause they were a bunch of eggheaded bookworms who've only ever read of battles...) to be chosen as the General of the Solar Senshi, it was Venus to be chosen as the leader of the group.

If not for that choice, Rei figured that her father probably wouldn't be as upset as he considered the daughters of every other planet in the solar system to be worthy warriors except Venus (and Mercury).

Selenity, however, refused to change her mind.

As this had been the first generation in at least 12 where everyone of the eligable planets had birthed females (as males were viewed too corrupted to handle the responsiblility of protecting the universe.) That being said, Selenity had the sole duty of moderating the training of and then ranking the new senshi as they matured.

She had chosen to rank Venus's party girl princess as the leader of the inner court and the emotionally blank slate that was the Princess of Saturn as the leader of the Outer Court,.

If she was to be honest, Rei really couldn't have cared less which rank she gained so long as she could do her job right. She didn't dare express her feelings to her father, however, lest she be disowned or something.

She suspected though that it was also her father's personal feelings towards the Queen of Venus, Aphrodite and the rumors that there were once intimatly involved and that the relationship had ended in tears and oceans of blood.

Rei just plain refused to ask.

So she sat there and pretended to glare at the room in general while **s**itting next to her father who was seething with rage so much so that it looked like (and probably actually was) little wisps of flame comming from his mouth every time he spoke.

She'd never met any of the other senshi outside of uniform and thus had never seen their true appearence, but she figured that the sunny blod sitting next to the white blond Aphrodite, must be Minako and therefore technically her superior (though not if her father could help it)

For some reason Rei couldn't help but notice the cerulean colored eyes the girl possessed, framed by that hair which matched the odd venusian flowers Minako was presently working into a garland.

"Selenity! You can't just sit there all nonchalant and ice-queen like just because you and Aphrodite happen to be friends. Besides the fact that Rei is much more qualified and that alone should guarantee her the position, I'm your brother!!"

Selenity narrowed her eyes as Ares banged her fists on the meeting table to punctuate each relationship.

"Yes, you are. Which is why my decision does not revolve around my relationships with your two. It never has but has always revolved around whom I believe to be the most capable girl for the job, which I believe to be Minako"

"**Freya**," Ares began, being sure to punctuate Minako's sovereign name through his teeth. He found it extreamly impertinent for person's outside of each royal family to refer to each others princesses by their given names. "Is no warrior. She's a party girl with a drinking proble, and obviously a drug problem as well." He added as an after fact, noticing Minako's garland with a sneer.

Aphrodite didn't take the bait,however, and responded by pretended to check her nails.

"And what exactly do you think **Bellona** will be able to do? The fact that her powers are more material doesn't lend anything to her actual abilities. Its been proven time and time again that Minako is able to profprm exceptionally well under pressure while your child truly takes after you in the way that she's more often rather whack things until they give in or die. Typical Martian behaviour. Exactly what about that says leader of the most powerful army in existence to you?!"

"It's leads better than hugging the enemy to death! Rei is far more capable at stratigy and battle tactics that Freya, as we've seen time and time again by the fact that your child would much rather just-"

"_Enough!_" Selenity yelled, causing everyone at the table to stare at her in awe, as the soft-spoken Queen rarely ever raised her voice. "Both princess have strengths and weaknesses which is why they are my top picks. I refuse to consider changing my mind of who is the best choice. If Pele wants to dispute the rankings then I shall decide what to do from there." Rei jumped as all eyes in the room suddenly focused on her.

She could feel her father's eyes burning into her in her periphrial vision, like the fire that their family could control and knew exactly what she had to do.

"...I want to dispute the ranking."

Ares turned a triumpant smirk towards Aphrodity who growled somewhere in the back of her throat and then to Selenity who sighed in resignation.

"Very Well. I propose that we hold a four-week trial, testing all of the skill necessary of the General of the Inner Court to be held between their Royal Highnesses the Princesses of Mars and Venus. There shall be an impartial proctor in the form of Her Royal Highness the Princess of Saturn and the trial shall be held in the neutral territory of Earth. There shall be no interferrence from the allies or relatives of either princess. At the end of the four-week term, the winner shall be decided by a panel consisting of Princess Saturn, Her Royal Highness, the High Princess Selena and myself. In the event that one of the princesses forfeits the trial or is deemed unable to compete, the remaining princess shall take the title and rank of General of the Inner Court Senshi and as such overall leader of the entire Senshi Corps. Are we all agreed on those terms and any that I decree in the even of question?"

There was a resounding "yes" throughout the room.

"Good. The Princesses shall report to the city-state of Rome to being the trial exactly one week from today. Until that thime they are to be sequestered in their respective villas on the Moon and will be subject to 24-7 elite guards to avoid any foul play. Please ensure that any and all affairs in the event of death are put in order and that your secondary heir is chosen in such an event. That is all and you are all dismissed."

* * *

Author's Note: Obviously this takes place in the Silver Millenium and I obviously took lots of liberties with the structure of the society and the operation of the senshi but I don't think anyone can't fault me on it unless they want to be really picky as there ain't much cannon explaination for me to go on. 

Notes on Titles and Names for chapter one:

**Her Royal Majesty the High Queen of the Solar System, Selenity I-** Obviously Selenities title. I felt that I had to make a distinction in the titles between the Lunar Monarchy and the rest of the planets monarchies so royals of the Moon kingdom are "High" so and so. Her reign name is Selenity while her given name is Mizuki which can mean Beautiful Moon

**Her Royal Highness the Crowned High Princess of the Solar System, Selena**- Obviously her given name is Usagi. I wasn't writing her as the leader of the senshi because I'm not entirely sure that Sailor Moon existed before the present era based on the fact that Selenity possed the Ginzuishisou.

**His Royal Majesty the King of Mars, Ares- **King of Mars and Rei's father. Given name is Ryuu which aside from being a kick ass street fighter character means dragon, aluding to the flames and smoke from his mouth.

**Her Royal Majesty the Queen of Venus, Aphrodite- **Queen of Venus and Minako's mother. Given name is Kirei which can mean Beautiful.

**Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess of Mars, Bellona- **Bellona is a roman goddess of war that accompanies Mars into battle and is his right-hand-woman and just as vicious.I thought it was appropo given Rei's attitude sometimes and given the fact that I think Ares would want his daughter or son right by his side in battle. Obvioult her given name is Rei

**Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess of Venus, Freya-** Freya is the Norse goddess of Love and Beauty and is Aphrodity;s contrmporary, which I also felt to be appropriate. Aphrodite is sorta vain like her namesake so it fit that she would name her daughter so closely after herself as Aphrodite and Freya are very often the same goddess in mythology. Given name is obviously Minako.

**Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess of Saturn, Kali- **Kali is the hindu goddess of Destruction. I couldn't find any goddess that exactly fits Sailor Saturns epithets so I just focused on her main attribute that's focused on in the series which is her destructive power. If anyone knows any other diety that fits please let me know! Given name is obviously Hotaru.


	2. Predilection

Gravitation: A Bishoujou Senshi Sailor Moon Fanfiction

Chapter Two: _Predilection_

_"Father, I don't necessarily see the point in challenging Freya for the rank of Taicho. Fukutaicho is perfectly fine with-" _The statement, made by Rei moments before departing for the Moon for their meeting with Selenity, had earned her a backhand across the face that would have sent a non-martian woman spiralling back several feet, instead of simply forcing a stagger.

The results of several centuries worth of intense battle training that all martian citizens had to go through and the fact that such punishment from her father was absolutly normal.

_"No child of mine will ever be satisfied with _second place_! You will contest Selenity's ruling or you will face the dire consequences that we give traitors to our kingdom. Don't think the punishments for you will be any less severe than the common spy simply because you are royalty by birth. You must uphold the title by your actions or face a treatment worse that death!!_"

It was that little speech alone that had convinced Rei that she had to speak up in the meeting. She knew her father wasn't bluffing and the notion that saying she didn't care one way or another again would get her disowned.

She hadn't always been the oldest child in the Martian royal family after all...

So for the week leading up to the journey to earth, while she was keep under constant watch by the Lunar Monarchy's elite guard, she was able to convince a few of them to spar with her.

After the first few days, however, it was clear that it was a bad idea as she had killed three of them and sent the rest home nursing potentially life-threatening wounds.

From then on guards from Mars' elite squads had been called in and were at least then able to get away with only broken bones.

Maybe not so contrary to popular beliefe, Mars was a planet made up of warriors.

While their were other planets like that, Mars was by far the most proficient in raising harded,hardy, battle-ready killing machines.

Whereas Jupiter trained it's warriors to practice stealth and efficiency over brute strength and military force and Uranus trained it's citizens to value the power that lay within the body with delecate movements instead of in the sword or at the end of an axe and whereas both planets made it's military training optional to both men and women, Mars required years of service in it's army for both genders from the age of seven until death. They were taught the basics of every form of combat known to martian kind and were drilled in it constantly, excelling in their chosen field.

Ares, before he had been crowned King and thus taken off active duty had specialized in overpowering the enemy by the sheer mass of his body and the power stored within it. He stood at over seven foot tall and weighed at least three hundred pounds of pure muscle. He was the ideal soldier to be produced by the Martian Kingdom and he never let his daughter forget it.

Rei, being significantly slighter than her father and taking after her mother, who had actually been the sister of Queen Selenity and therefore of the Lunar race, was more natually skilled in magical undertakings than in those of battle. Given that fact, her father had taken a particular interest in ensuring that the balance between Rei's gifts proformed a complete 180 degree turn.

She was required to do every form of excersise conceivable upon waking up at 4:30 a.m. until breakfast at 7 a.m. at 8 she was required to go through two hours of private tutoring on general academics. From ten until eleven p.m. she was drilled in swordsmanship, hand-to-hand combat, battle tactics, martial arts, general fitness, archery, and destructive sorcery in two hour rotating intervals with half hour breaks for lunch and dinner at 2 and then 6. At ten she was required to be in bed, leaving her four hours of every day to herself, which she was been convinced was better spent on independent training rather than doing frivolous things like read or socialize.

It was how her three brothers before her had been raised as well, though they had all left for greener planets by the time she had reached the age of six when it was determined that she would be crowned the heir to Mars' throne and when her father had finally taken notice of her existance. He hadn't been very thrilled when his fourth child had been born a female and had been rumored to have attempted to strangle her in her bassinet days after she had been born.

Rei knew it wasn't wise to second guess her father and therefore did not do it often. She preferred to be his pretty little killing machine and avoid getting strangled in her queen sized bed.

She also knew, however, that no matter how many ways she could kill a man using her left ear, that she didn't stand a chance in actually defeating Minako for the position of General of the Inner Senshi.

Minako possed the talent for leadership that had been bred out of her by her father's constant leaning. She possesed the strength of will needed to be able to die for a cause or person that she believed in. She possesed the self-confidence and self-assurence to know that her decisions were the right ones and that she had the skills needed to carry them out.

Maybe most importantly in Rei's eyes, Minako possesed the ability to balance her life in accordance to what she truly wanted and not what was required of her.

She'd gone through rigourous training in order to become a senshi and to gain Selenity's confidence, without doubt, but she also managed to weave rediculous flower garlands in the middle of a meeting that questioned a major part of who she was and just how capable that part was of existing.

Being the Senshi of Venus was not all that Minako was.

She was a flirt, a party-girl, a ditz, an empath, and an independent spirit.

There was nothing that Minako could be told to do without given a justifiable reason why she should do it and even then she spent hours in intense deliberation as to whether she should do it or not.

She truly followed her own beat and it was that quality, that not even the High Queen of the Silver Millenium could quelsh, that made Rei think that Minako was actually the perfect person to lead the Solar System's senshi army.

So despite what her father said and what his opinions on the matter were, Rei vowed to herself that while she would put up a valiant effort into beating Minako in the Trials (and not incurring her father's wrath in the process) and if she didn't...

Well...Let's just say that she didn't even want to think about what would happen if she lost...

* * *

"Are you certain that you want to go through with this? The initial selection had nothing to do with how the senshi matched up against each other but only on the qualities that Selenity saw while she observed all of us." 

"I know, I have a feeling though, that Bellona, for some reason, is almost desperate to beat me in this." Minako remarked with a curious tilt of her head following her question

"Her father will probably feed her to wild hogs if she doesn't."

Minako, utterly confused by that last comment took a moment to reflect on her tea partners.

Sitting on her left was the Crown Princess of Mercury while on her right was the Crown Princess of Jupiter. She'd had a close relationship with both princesses since they were in diapers, due to the fact that their parents were close friends.

In fact, she was friends with the princesses of all the inner planets except for that of Mars, likely due to the animosity that was rampant between it's rulers.

It was a sad state of affairs, she reflected, that someone like Rei, whom she could _feel_ was a better person that the ruthless machine that her father had raised her to be, had to be so isolated on any given occasion.

Here she Ami and Makoto were, having tea in the Lunar Palace Gardens while Rei was off training. At every function that went on that involved more than one planet Minako would always notice or would hear about how the Princess of Mars was so well behaved and stood rigedly at her father's side, bowing and smiling when necessary and only occasionally talking to her cousin, Usagi. While the Outer Court Senshi stuck to themselves and most of the Inner Court did as well, Rei was always the odd girl out.

More of her father's brainwashing to be sure...

"...I think...I'm going to throw the trials..." Minako said, in between sips of earl grey.

"..." Was the general consensus of the other two occupants at the table.

"I just think that Rei wants it more than I do. Sure I may who Selenity thinks is the most capable but I just don't think it means as much to me as it does to her. She deserves it more."

"...Are you outside of your damned mind?!" Makoto shouted, slamming her fist down on the table, upseting the three cups of tea. "What makes you think someone like that could efficiantly lead the most powerful army in the Solar System let alone the universe?! You'd actually entrust the saftey of the Princess to someone like _her_?!"

"While I'm not as vehemently against it as Makoto seems to be, I do agree that Bellona is not a wise choice to lead the Senshi. She doesn't posses nearly as many of the key qualities that are needed for a Taicho as you do. She may,in fact, be one of the worst options based on the influence that her father holds over her. What would happen if Ares arbitrarily decided that he didn't like the way Selenity-sama was doing things and attempted to influence his daughter to order the rest of us to attack? Theres no way you can hand over control to one so easily controlled." Ami offered, moping up the tea with a handkerchief she pulled from hammerspace.

"I think you guys underestimate her more than a little. She really couldn't be as bad as you seem to think."

"Have you ever talked to the girl, Mina?" Makoto questioned. calmingly slightly and steeling herself to talk to a third-grader

"Well...Not as of yet, she didn't seem to want to talk after the hearing..."

"And at any of the functions we see her at where is she? No further than two feet away from her father unless it's to take a piss, in which case he stands outside the door."

"So he's just overprotective alot of fathers are-"

"No, Mina. You can't do this. We won't let you. If it comes down to it, Ami and I will drug you and take your place somehow but you cannot forfeit to her."

Slightly terrified at the prospect of being drugged (As mercurians also had a knack for poisons as well as medicines), Minako decided it was probably more in her best interest to listen to her friends' advice and promise that she would fight her hardest to hold on to her title.

Though there was no reason that her hardest didn't have to purposly give Rei the edge over her did it?

* * *

A/N: I think I went a little OOC on some characters but the chapter just sort of flowed this way. I know Rei is very unlikely to be subservient to anyone, lest of all a man, but lets remember the time period and the fact that the senshi from the current era are different people for the most part than they were in the silver millenium. Take Usagi for example, She's so different than Selena-hime that the majority of the characters refused to believe they were the same person. Same goes for everyone else. Rei is still Rei essentially though and that will come out farther along in the fic but for now she basically cowtows to her father. Minako is just...well, Minako I guess... Predilection is also a Gravitation song and I don't own it or BSSM.

Notes on the titles in Chapter Two

**His Royal Majesty the King of Jupiter, Zeus- **King of the Planet of Jupiter and Makoto's father. I felt I should include Hermes and Zeus in here because I was probably not gonna get another chance. Given name is Arashi which means Storm and obviously fits pretty nicely.

**His Royal Majesty the King of Mercury, Hermes-**King of the Planet Mercury and Ami's father, Given name is Hakuran which can mean Wide Knowledge. Appropos given that Mercury is the planet of Knowledge.

**Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess of Jupiter, Aello-**Aello is one of the Harpies who are winged demons of tornado's in Greek Mythology. I thought about naming her after the Harpies' mother but Elektra just seemed too predictable. Aello means the Stormy One which I though to be pretty well fitted if for nothing else but the meaning. Given name is obviously Makoto.

**Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess of Mercury, Minerva-** Minerva is the Roman equivelent to the Goddess Athena who the goddess of knowledge, wisdom and justifiable war. Given that I think it's pretty obvious why I picked her. Given name is obviously Ami.


End file.
